


Backhanded Justice

by Genie60



Series: A Very Bad Thing [1]
Category: Poldark (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 20:45:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7816606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genie60/pseuds/Genie60
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by BBC One's latest trailer for S2 and events in Book 4, Warleggan.  Just a quick one shot as Demelza channels her street urchin and gives Ross....you know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backhanded Justice

He didn’t know what hit him. Well, he did but he didn’t think she could or would do it.  As he lay in the dirt, his head spinning from the blow, he gazed up and saw the face of his wife. He had never seen such hate in her eyes. There was no other way to describe it but hate.  He didn’t think she had it in her. Not his Demelza. She loved and looked for the good in everyone.  He supposed she would do the same where he was concerned which is why when he met her in the early morning hours after his  tryst, for that is what it was,  he was surprised to find that she didn’t want to hear his explanation or excuses.  Or even an apology. The rage inside her was visible to him and he didn’t know how to deal with it. 

Over the years, she has dealt with his moods and impulsiveness and always, always found reason and logic in the actions.  She might not have agreed with it or even understood the intentions, but she supported those decisions as she supported him. Because she loved him.  No questions asked.  Was he that naïve to think that she would do the same after an incident like this?

He knew that her attempt to stop him was because she knew him better than he knew himself. Demelza knew what the outcome would be and because she did, he assumed that she would come to terms with it and move on as if it was just another of his impulsive decisions. He was wrong.  Very wrong.

When he happened upon her in the yard, doing one of many chores that seemed never ending in their lives, he thought he could talk to her and explain.  So it was a shock when he saw that she couldn’t even look at him.  She said nothing as he bantered on, trying to rationalize and make sense of what he’d done.  How it had nothing to do with her; that he needed to make Elizabeth realize that what she was doing was wrong; that there had to be another way.  He rambled and she fumed.  From where he stood he could see her body tense and her breathing become erratic.  What surprised him was that she wasn’t crying.  She usually cried when she was upset. Not this time.  And Ross realized that what she was feeling was more than hurt; it must have been unfathomable pain. Which he could understand because he felt pain too.

As he rode home, he knew what he had done had accomplished nothing.  Nothing was going to change and it was all for naught.  He was riding home to the woman he truly loved and who now, he betrayed in a way he never thought he would.  He knew all this and yet still tried to reason with her. So when she swung around and backhanded him, he was shocked but not surprised.  For that was the fighting Demelza he had brought home and come to love.  

He slowly got up as she started to walk away, her shoulders back and her head held high.  She would not give him the satisfaction of crying in front of him; he knew that now.  Ross knew it would take a long time to get Demelza to listen to him, if at all as this move was not going to be easily explained away. Standing up and brushing off the dirt, he resolved that he would take all the anger and hurt she would show him because he deserved it.  For all she put up with that he had taken for granted, he would give her this time to hate him and prayed that the love he knew they shared would find its way back into her heart. And what he thought he wanted was only a memory that now left a bitter taste.  She was all he needed and wanted and he would make her see that again.  His Demelza.  Street urchin, scullery maid, wife, mother, partner, lover.  For without her, he was nothing. 

**Author's Note:**

> As someone mentioned it's the smack heard around the world....It automatically lent itself to a story. 
> 
> Written in a few minutes while I should have been working...and not watching the trailer over and over again.


End file.
